Considering joining the Harvard orchestra? While the Supreme Court justices offered many zingers during oral arguments for the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina cases, it was a line from Chief Justice John Roberts that resonated more than others. That line? It concerned oboe players. That’s right. Oboe players.

Where Do Oboe Players and The Supreme Court Overlap?

As Adam Liptak reports for The New York Times in a piece entitled “Highlights: Supreme Court Hears Affirmative Action Cases From Harvard and U.N.C., “Mr. [Seth] Waxman said that many factors contributed to whether students were admitted.’ Race for some highly qualified applicants can be the determinative factor,’ he said, ‘just as being an oboe player in a year in which the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra needs an oboe player will be the tip.’ Chief Justice Roberts seemed taken aback. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘We did not fight a Civil War about oboe players. We did fight a Civil War to eliminate racial discrimination, and that’s why it’s a matter of considerable concern.”

Yes, perhaps Mr. Waxman should have better prepared for oral arguments before the nation’s highest court. Oboe players? Come on now. Why on earth did Mr. Waxman, a former Solicitor General of the United States, cite oboe players? Surely citing legacy applicants or development cases would have been savvier choices to appeal to the court’s majority. But oboe players? Mr. Waxman, you gave Chief Justice Roberts a layup there when you instead could have hit the majority where it hurt — by attacking the very hypocrisy of eliminating offering preferential treatment based on race when these same colleges offer preferential treatment based on family connections and family donations to the schools. Oboe players! We’re shaking our heads.

Why the Roberts Loophole is a Godsend to Underrepresented Minorities.

When the dust finally settled in the courtroom, the Supreme Court ruled to outlaw the use of race-based Affirmative Action in college admissions offices across the land. This ruling may have been a disappointment to some, but as we at Ivy Coach have enthusiastically pointed out in the aftermath, this ruling isn’t as straightforward as one might think. Chief Justice Roberts carved out a loophole to this ruling in the form of supplemental essay responses and college-specific questions. The so-called “Roberts Loophole,” in which Justice Roberts writes, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise,” allows for experiences of race-based discrimination, adversity, and identity to be articulated in college-specific responses and supplemental essays. In other words, race is still a factor that’s on the table in elite college admissions, not officially, but through the perennial medium of the creative essay.

Why Music Essays Fall Flat in Ivy League Admissions

And as far as oboe players go? Well, if you have insider knowledge that the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra is in dire need of an oboe player and you know you could fill that niche, that’s one thing. But for the most part, anything music-related is generally no-man’s land when it comes to supplemental essays as far as we’re concerned. Admissions officers at elite schools like Harvard will glaze over the second they glance at your clichéd essay on the power of music or the unique charm of the oboe. Music is one of Ivy Coach’s six “third-rail” essay topics that we instruct our students to avoid at all costs. It’s been done before, and when word count is at a premium in college supplements and the Roberts Loophole is some students’ only opportunity to express how race has impacted their lives, there’s no room for a topic like music that has been done to death.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Elite College Admission

Are you an oboe player seeking an elite college education? Or just a plain-old parent of a high school student with dreams of the Ivy League? If so, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch with an outline of our college admissions services designed to optimize admission to highly selective colleges.